A large number of emergency service vehicles were sent to the scene at around 4pm.

The town quickly started trending on Twitter as people began questioning just what was going on.

Locals began uploading pictures showing police at the scene. Others were asking when they might be able to return to the centre.

Wiltshire Police has now thanked the public for their patience and support.

Inspector Pete Sparrow said: "It is important that incidents of this nature are treated as a credible threat - the public's safety must always remain our priority.

"I'd like to thank the public for their cooperation during this afternoon's incident.

"I'd also like to extend a thank you to all local businesses, especially Bill's restaurant and the Cathedral Hotel who have assisted greatly, as well as the Salisbury Reds bus company who assisted in moving people out of the area.

"It's really important during incidents of this nature that the public are following our official social media channels - this has played a vital part in today's incident in getting important messages out to the public."

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